People at elevated positions above a floor or other relatively lower surface are at risk of falling and injury. For example, workers and other personnel who have occupations that require them to be at elevated positions, such as on scaffolding, are at risk of falling and injury. Safety harnesses are often worn to stop a person's fall and prevent or reduce injury.
Safety harnesses typically have a harness portion worn by the user and a tether or lanyard extending from the harness portion. The lanyard connects the harness portion to a secure structure. If a person falls from the elevated position, the safety harness stops the person's fall when the lanyard is straightened.
A load limiter on a seat belt system can be worn to secure the occupant of a vehicle in the event of a sudden stop or collision to reduce the risk of injury. If a person is subjected to inertia due to a vehicle's sudden stop, the load limiter limits the person's forward movement when the load limiter is straightened.
Retractable lanyard devices are used in some fall protection applications, and retractable load limiter devices are used in some seat belt systems. Retractable lanyard devices are typically comprised of a flat webbing that is capable of being received within a retractor. Existing retractable lanyard devices have a mechanical device in the retractor to stop the fall (by preventing the webbing from advancing further out of the webbing) or to dissipate energy (by deforming metal). With typical retractable lanyards devices, however, the person's movement is stopped rather abruptly and the person is subjected to the shock force of the abrupt stop. Moreover, existing retractable lanyard devices are bulky, heavy, and costly.
Lanyards that attempt to absorb the shock of a person's fall are known. Such lanyards, however, have bunched, accordion-type sections that lengthen as energy is absorbed. These bunched sections prevent the use of an energy absorbing webbing in a retractor, since a retractor requires the use of a flat webbing.